Fund innovation or end up as curiosity, says report

Wednesday, 6 September 2000

Australia is at risk of becoming a curiosity, a cute place for tourists to admire the wildlife, according to the authors of new report on science innovation.

The warning from the president of the Federation of Australia's Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) comes in the wake of the release this week of the final report by the Government's Innovation Summit Implementation Group.

FASTS president Professor Sue Serjeanston said all attention was now on the Government to see how it responded to the report, called Innovation - Unlocking the Future .

"Australia's comparative position in the world pecking order has sagged in the last few years, and we can't afford to let it slip further," Professor Sergeanston said.

The report makes 24 recommendations for creating an ideas culture, generating ideas, and acting on ideas. Significantly, it recommends doubling funding to the Australian Research Council, providing tax breaks for small innovative companies and doubling funding to a program which helps commercialise new technologies.

Rewards and incentives for research staff would also be reviewed to give them more incentive to commercialise research.

However, while the report recommends increasing the tax concession for research and development to 130 per cent, this is still 20 per cent less than it was under the previous federal government.

The president of the Australian Academy of Science Brian Anderson welcomed the report. "Both the Minister and his Department have committed an enormous part of their time and energy to the process behind these reports. As a result of the inclusive process the Minister has used, I believe that the ISIG proposals will find strong support in all sectors," he said.

FASTS has repeated a call made earlier in the year for the Government to introduce a mini-Budget to deal with the nation's shrinking investment in research and development.

Federal Minister for Industry, Science and Resources Senator Nick Minchin said the recommendations, along with those from the Chief Scientist, released last week, would assist the Government in developing an Innovation Action Plan, due out before the end of the year.